Andrew Whitelaw, Professor of Neonatal Medicine in Clinical Science at North Bristol, has been elected President of the Neonatal Society 2006-8.

The Neonatal Society was founded in 1959 as a research society devoted to the scientific study of the newborn. Past presidents have included four Fellows of the Royal Society. Although the Society is based in the United Kingdom, roughly a quarter of the members are overseas.

The Neonatal Society has included many clinicians but has always had a large minority of non-clinical scientists, especially physiologists. It has provided the scientific basis for important advances reducing death and disability in newborn babies. Professor Whitelaw first presented a paper to the Neonatal Society in 1976.